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Mission & Goals

NON PROFIT MISSION

In February, 2016, The Farmers’ Market of Paris and Bourbon County, Inc. was granted 501(c)3 Public Charity status from the I.R.S. We are pleased to take our mission forward and to work toward making our community a welcoming and pleasant place to live and work!

Our non profit mission includes:

Supporting other Non-Profits

The service of supporting other community Non-Profits is provided by the Indoor Market, which is open 12 months a year, and welcomes sales of products and crafts from the following non-profits organizations: Paris Police Department, PAWS (Paris Animal Welfare Society), Paris-Bourbon County Tourism, Chamber of Commerce, Bourbon County FFA Chapter, St. Mary’s School, Homemakers’ Club, Friends of Stoner Creek, Kentucky Garden Club, Old Mims Retirement Home for Horses, and many local churches.

2. Providing Public Charity

The volunteers and employees of the The Farmers’ Market of Paris and Bourbon County work together to provide support for the following public charity efforts:

a. God’s Pantry Food Bank - The Market coordinates the education to community farmers/gardeners regarding marketing the program, and the growing, gathering, and distribution of excess farm fresh produce to God’s Pantry, an organization of Feeding America. This program runs weekly from July through September and this is our third rewarding year of providing this service.

b. Governmental Assistance Programs - The Market, via the individual Farmers whom the Market supports, participates in two USDA voucher programs: WIC (Women and Infant Children) and SFMNP (Senior Farm Market Nutrition Program), and the Inside Market is now accepting SNAP (USDA food stamp program). These programs provide relief to low-income families at a convenient downtown location, where many of the community that use SNAP can access by walking if other transportation is unavailable.

c. Market Facilities - the Market facilities, which include a meeting room, public restrooms, fully functioning kitchen, tables and chairs, TV for video/computer presentation and white boards, are used for many community events, such as: Christmas Holiday Hop (benefitting individual owned businesses located in downtown Paris, KY), Small Business Saturday (American Express sponsored national shopping day in support of small businesses) benefitting Paris and Bourbon County, Market festivals (including community food education via cooking demonstrations, children’s activities, local music presentations), and beginning/ending point for horse drawn carriage rides during downtown festivals.

d. Public Market - Community building is the mindset of the Market. It is the place where the whole community comes together: people from rural and city, business and agri-business, growers and consumers.

e. Entertainment - The Market sponsors local musicians to perform during the Market Festivals. We have had seasoned local musicians and musicians who are just beginning to learn. This could be their first time performing on our tiny stage. Children in attendance have also been known to take over the microphone for their own performance which proved to be very educational and entertaining.

f. Welcome Center for Paris and Bourbon County - The Market operates a Welcome Center in partnership with Paris-Bourbon County Tourism Board. This is an important part of the Community’s effort to increase tourism. The Market employees, as well as vendors, provide both information and local interaction with those traveling through our community.

3. Providing Educational Opportunities:

a. Educating consumers - the very popular CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) basket program has been an innovative way to expose a variety of new vegetables to the customer base at the Market. The weekly basket is composed of freshly harvested produce and products from multiple vendors and spotlights the particular items that are in season that week. Customers are often given vegetables that they would not ordinarily purchase but are pleasantly surprised to explore new recipes and tastes.

b. Facilitating education programs for vendors - The Market supports a variety of produce vendors from small gardeners to larger scale commercial vegetable growers by not only providing a great location to sell, but working as a resource coordinator, working with State of Kentucky coordinators, for educational training programs such as WIC (Women and Infant Children) and SFMNP (Senior Farm Market Nutritional Program).